Vijaya Dashmi-Dussehra

Dussehra, one of the most popular festivals of India is celebrated all over the country for ten days in the month of Asvina (September-October). The Navaratri festival ends with Dussehra to celebrate Rama's victory over Ravana. Every region celebrates this ten-day festival in a special way. In North India, it is 'RamLila' and consists of plays, recitations and music which recall the heroic and moral deeds of the legendary hero, Rama. In Kulu, against the backdrop of now-covered mountains, villagers dressed in their colourful best assemble to take out a procession of local deities, with pipes and drums in attendance. In Mysore, the festival is celebrated with pomp and pageantry reminiscent of medieval times. In Bengal and other parts of Eastern India, Dussehra is celebrated as Durga Puja. Images of the goddess are worshipped for ten days and on the last day are taken out in procession and immersed in a river or the sea.